Summer Sampler 10: Greek Cross and Star of Virginia blocks

Yesterday my weather was mid-40s and sunny, and I can't tell you how it lifted my spirits. Spring is right around the corner!

Also lifting my spirits: Our Summer Sampler 10th Anniversary celebration, with FREE block paterns galore! We're releasing 12 FREE online block patterns over the next few months. Today we're re-releasing the Greek Cross block pattern by Faith of Fresh Lemons Quilts, from the original Summer Sampler quilt-along in 2011.

The Greek Cross block is SO beginner-friendly—honestly, I think it would even be an amazing first quilt block for somebody who has never done any quilting before. There are so few seams to line up in this design, which makes it a really easy, quick, low-key fun sew. But it introduces the important concept of half-square triangles—you won’t get very far in quilting without those! So if you’re a newbie just looking to get your feet wet, this might be the block for you. I promise you CAN indeed make this simple, fun quilt block!

And for all you visual learners out there, I made a YouTube video tutorial that takes you through the process of making this block from start to finish! Again, I geared this video toward beginners. While it’s not as detailed as I might get in an actual class, I do think it serves as a pretty good way to learn, so check that out if you’re interested.

The block shown above is my 2021 version of Greek Cross. Want to see the Greek Cross I made back in 2011? Wait for it …

Well. It’s colorful, I’ll give it that. And printy. Very, very printy!

Greek Cross is the second in this series of free block patterns to celebrate Summer Sampler’s 10th anniversary. The first block in the series was a classic sawtooth star block, also known as Star of Virginia. This block, designed/patterned by Katie of Swim Bike Quilt, is another really easy, beginner-friendly block design, and it’s such a timeless look! This type of star block uses Flying Geese units to make the star points, which is another great skill to have in your quilting arsenal. You can find the Star of Virginia block pattern here, or click here for Katie’s video on making Flying Geese.

In her video, Katie takes you through her favorite method for making Flying Geese (there are many options when it comes to this unit!). But if you happen to have my Perfect Flying Geese Templates, you absolutely can use the templates to make this Star of Virginia block! You will want to use the 3” x 6” Finished Size templates on page 14 of the PDF file to make the star points for a 12-1/2” x 12-1/2” Star of Virginia block. (Want to know more about my Perfect Flying Geese templates? Click here to watch them in action!)

Since I showed you the 2011 version of Greek Cross, this post wouldn’t be complete without my 2011 Star of Virginia. So here she is. PRINTY! My choices certainly have changed in 10 years, haven’t they? 😂

That’s two Summer Sampler 10 blocks down, 10 more to go! We’re releasing a new FREE block pattern each Wednesday, so come back here next week to enjoy the next one! You can also find a schedule right here, or click here to get emails about each week’s block release. By the time we’re done with these 12 blocks, summer might actually be here, and won’t that be amazing? See you next week!